A Warrior's Soft Side
by Kat Warrior1
Summary: Duke decides to get out of the Pond for a while, and meets a little boy who needs a friend. Yes, a little break from the action genre, but the Ducks need it some times. No pairings.


A Warrior's Soft Side  
  
Kat Warrior  
  
Nosedive was obviously enjoying himself as he hurdled over various articles of furniture, pulling some awesome moves on an imaginary skateboard as he listened to his favorite CD in the entertainment room. Some of his teammates had evacuated since he'd cranked the music up loud enough, while others either refused to leave or were use to it.   
  
Wildwing was use to it, and so had simply continued about his business despite the head-banging music in the room. Mallory wasn't willing to humble herself leave, so she had taken out her walkman and turned it up high enough to block out Nosedive's music. This also made it impossible for her to hear anything else, so everyone decided to just leave her alone until Nosedive got bored and found something else to do.  
  
Grin had retreated to his room to concentrate on whatever he was doing and Tanya had dismissed herself with the excuse that some of her inventions had bugs that needed to be worked out. Duke had decided to go for a walk. He was tried of being cooped-up in the Pond anyway and needed some fresh air.  
  
Duke walked along the strip mall, taking in his surroudnings. He didn't really plan on going in any of the stores, just doing some people-watching. For some reason, he enjoyed watching people do every-day things and live their normal lives. Perhaps it was because a "normal life" was something he'd never even had the chance to have.  
  
As he watched people going about their business, a young boy caught his eye. The child looked to be about seven. He wore a Mighty Ducks t-shirt, navy-blue shorts, and a pair of roller-blades accompanied by a green helmet. As Duke watched, the boy lost his balanced and crashed.  
  
The boy pushed himself up off the pavement and into a sitting position. Both of his knees, his right elbow, and his plams were skinned. He sat and stared hopelessly at his hands, obviously trying not to cry. He gave up on trying to hold it back when some older boys zoomed by and started to laugh.  
  
Feeling sorry for the little boy, Duke walked over to him, and crouched down in front of him.  
  
"Are you Okay, kid?" he asked. The boy looked up at him, quite surprised not only that someone was talking to him, but also that it was one of the Mighty Ducks, his hero, Duke L'Orange. He sniffled and tried to regain his composure.  
  
"Uh... I dunno..." he stuttered, "I got hurt..."  
  
"Boy, did you!" Duke agreed, helping him stand up. "Would some ice cream make you feel better?"  
  
The boy nodded, still hardly able to believe that one of the Mighty Ducks was talking to him. The boy moved slowly as Duke took his hand and helped him skate to the nearby ice cream parlor.  
  
"So, what's your name, Kid?" Duke asked as they entered Baskin Robin's.  
  
"Jeff," the boy replied quietly. "You're Duke L'Orange, aren't you?"  
  
"The one and only!" he answered with a smile as they approached the counter. Jeff had a cone with chocolate-chip ice cream while Duke ordered a smoothie. Once Jeff sat down and started eating his ice cream, he became a great deal more talkative. The pain from his minor wounds had died down, and the ice cream was a great treat on such a hot day. Not only that, but he was talking to his hero, Duke L'Orange.  
  
"I have your number on the back of my shirt," Jeff informed him, "I wanna play hockey some day too, but I just can't seem to skate. Sometimes I think I should just give up and be a lawyer like my big brother. My parents sure are proud of him."  
  
"I bet that your parents are proud of you too, Jeff," Duke told him, trying to be encouraging, "I had a hard time learning to skate, too. I was about twelve when I finally had it down to where I could go out and not worry about falling down. Not being able to skate well was pretty hard back home, considering that there was ice on the ground almost all year long."  
  
"Really?" Jeff's face lit up when he heard Duke's story. If one of the world's best hockey players had had trouble learning to skate, then there was hope for him.  
  
"Would you like a pass to the stadium next season?" Duke offered, "I can give you a ticket that'll make sure you get into all of out home games for free."  
  
"You can do that?!" Jeff had finished his ice cream and was almost bouncing in his chair.  
  
"Sure can," Duke assured him, "Just calm down, Okay? I don't wanna make a scene or anything... How about I walk you home?"  
  
"Okay!" Jeff agreed eagerly.  
  
The two left the ice cream parlor and headed out of the strip mall area to the nearby suburbs. Duke was decidedly nervous, hoping that no one was watching them or following them. In a short amount of time, they had reached a small, tan house. A dog could be heard barking from behind the fence that wound around the back yard. There were no cars in the drive way, so Duke assumed that no one was home. He hated to leave the boy home alone.  
  
"Will you be alright home alone?" Duke asked hesitantly.  
  
"Yeah, I'm used to it," Jeff replied, "My dog keeps me real good company."  
  
"Well, if you think someone's trying to break in, you can call me. I'll take care of him for ya. And here's your pass, too." Duke reached into his pocket and pulled out two small slips of paper and then handed them to the boy.  
  
"Thanks!" Jeff exclaimed, and then threw his arms around the tall duck. Duke was surprised, but he smiled and hugged the boy back.  
  
"You're welcome, Jeff," he replied, "And don't ever give up on skating, Okay?"  
  
"I won't," Jeff promised, as he waved good-bye to his new friend. "You can count on me!"  
  
Duke smiled and waved back as he walked away. He couldn't help but think of the younger members of the Brotherhood of the Blade, the children who had been under his care and teaching. They had all been killed when Dragonus had come, and he'd always been mad at himself for not being able to save them. Perhaps now he could make up for that.  
  
THE END  
  
A/N: OK, I'll admit it. I'm getting wrtier's block here. But I am working on another story, I swear! It's just going to take a while because it's so long. Well, I hope you enjoyed that, as action-less as it was. Even the ducks need a break some times.  
  
Now, I don't know about there being any children in the Brotherhood of the Blade, so I made that up. Perhaps it will be explained better in another story. The only character in this story who belongs to me is Jeff. Please do not use him without my permission (like you'd want to.)  
  
Much thanks goes to Silver Elf Maiden for being a MD:TAS fan fic editor for me! ^_^  
  
~~Kat Warrior 


End file.
